Â鶹Éç

As the first free schools prepare to open this month, commentators discuss their merits.

The the opportunity for religious groups to have more control over their childrens' learning. But it warns against a class divide:

"There is nothing wrong in free schools serving, as Nicola Perry, principal of Aldborough, said yesterday, 'aspirational' parents. But we would encourage them to play their part in improving the life chances of children whose parents are not aspirational, too."

The founder of the local schools network . She suspects the Conservatives are attempting to kill off comprehensive schools, places she defends for their locally governed nature:

"As a parent, you may never come into contact with a local councillor the entire time your child is at school. But the point is, they are there. To complain to, to offer support. And if you don't think that they, or their party, have helped improve schools, then you can vote them out.
Ìý
"Whatever it says, this Government prefers Big Brother to the Big Society. Free schools and academies are accountable only to central government, via a funding agreement, which is often secret. But what will happen when things go seriously wrong in a school in Cumbria or Cornwall? Can the head ring up Michael Gove to sort out the effects of a fire or flood?"

One proposed free school in Manchester, the Phoenix School, wants to use soldiers as teachers. Clive Dytor, former Royal Marines officer and current headmaster of The Oratory School soldiers would be a welcome addition to the classroom:

"What do pupils need in Broken Britain today? Discipline, commitment, loyalty, the ability to focus on the task in hand. In other words, T-CUP in exams and on the sports field -and around the mean streets of our cities. To the serviceman, all this is second nature because he has had it drilled into him through rigorous training - what modern educationalists would describe as 'spoon fed' or 'not independent learning'."

for a comprehensive free school in Manchester where all full-time staff will be ex-Service personnel:

"Former soldiers have worked miracles in America's violent inner-city schools, where principals overwhelmingly rate them as more effective than conventionally trained teachers. In Britain, the charity SkillForce trains former Service personnel to work for one day a week with "hard-to-reach" pupils. It has reduced exclusions by more than 80 per cent - and only 3 per cent of its pupils leave school at 16 without a job."

But General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers the plan to allow soldiers to skip teacher training:

"The idea that you can simply take the skills and abilities you've learnt in war or on the parade ground or through army manoeuvres and those can be translated undigested into teaching without any further training is ridiculous.
Ìý
"This also makes the bigger point that these free schools aren't free, they are paid for by tax payers' money and there's no guarantee that if you send your child to a free school you'll be taught by a teacher."